In a New Orleans hospital, I gazed across the small sea of babies in the newborn infirmary. Their tiny, sleeping forms looked as peaceful as they come. Nearby, I knew that Sarah was asleep in her hospital bed, dozing off the aftermath of a long and excruciating birth.

Her water had broken out of the blue. Luckily, we had been expecting that, and I knew that we needed to be prepared for the eventuality. Thus, I’d put my beautiful Scarlett into park, pulled a few strings, and gotten my hands on a car.

It had been a begrudging decision.

I utterly hated the constriction of cages and how they always limited my senses. I couldn’t feel the fresh wind on my face, the vibe of the road, or the natural intuition that comes with veteran experience on a hot, rumbling bike. There wasn’t a damn car in the world that could give me the exhilaration of a hard ride, not unless it was a sports car… and there was no way that my bride-to-be was letting me drive a Porsche.

That Porsche could have been such an incredibly badass compromise.

But it didn’t make sense as Connor’s due date rapidly approached, so I sat my ass in the driver’s seat of some last-year model SUV (and that only added insult to injury), ferrying Sarah around as she needed. At least she liked it. The thing drove like a tank, my men ridiculed me mercilessly and, to twist the knife, a goddamn Prius of all things gunned it past me on the Interstate.

But then she broke her water in the seat, and we had to make a quick dash to the hospital for the birth of our son.

The rental people were gonna be pissed.

But that detail meant basically zilch to me right now, because somewhere, deep in this sea of slumbering infants in baskets, was my son.

Wonder where you are, Connor…

I flagged down the nearby elderly nurse, who was all too happy to check for me. Since I couldn’t make Connor do a little tap-dance with my brain, the friendly old nurse answered the question for me by taking a small, sleeping infant from his bed and curling him up in his blanket. With mounting anticipation, I watched her walk around to the door and up the corridor before she carefully handed me my baby boy.

“Congratulations, Dad,” she smiled warmly. “Connor looks happy and healthy.”

I beamed down at him.

“Connor… it’s so great to meet you, son.”

I’d never taken a strong opinion in the name selection. The two of us decided on it together, but I’d really let his mother dominate the process and we both knew it. Sarah had chosen well – at a glance, he was definitely a Connor.

While I held him close and watched him sleepily push a finger into his tiny mouth, I felt the warmth of fatherhood overcome me.

The name suits you, kiddo.

As I pulled myself out of my brief trance, I realized that the elderly nurse was still here. After a moment of gazing at her, I realized that she had been asking me something.

“Sorry,” I shook my head. “What was that?”

With a knowing but firm smile, she eyed the patches on my black, leather vest and repeated patiently: “Are the rest of them with you?”

“Oh yeah,” I chuckled, glancing towards the waiting room doors. “Those are my other boys.”

The nurse pulled her lips into a frown.

“Coming up here in all that black leather, scaring everybody,” she tsk-tsked. “You know, the lot of you darn near gave some of us old ladies a heart attack!”

“I’ll get us all out of your hair soon enough,” I offered her the most charming grin I had on me. “Once my fiancée is checked out and ready to get some rest at home. For now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go pull a ‘Lion King’ moment…”

Before I went through the doors, I glanced into the windows and took a quick, warm look at my loyal men. The whole pack was there, all chatting among themselves as they awaited the arrival of their prince.

I couldn’t ask for better babysitters.

Sarah and I both knew that the entire lot of them would treat our son like their own. As the date had pulled closer, we’d started having all the long talks about how we wanted to raise our child – and we agreed that he belonged in the club. We’d already found some great schools for when the time came.

Better yet, he’d have a playmate soon.

Grizz and Kate were expecting, too.

They’d surprised us with the news when we’d finally returned after two weeks in Phoenix. She was already deep into her second trimester, and they’d just gotten the news: a girl.

They wanted to name her Kyra.

Part of me wondered if Connor and Kyra would grow up to fall in love. We’d all joked about it together, but the four of us knew that crazier things had happened. Whether or not our dear friends became an official part of the family or not, I had confidence that our children would be fast friends and lifelong companions.

Connor and Kyra… I thought to myself.

Like Jack said, it was up to us to take what we had learned and teach it to the next in the line. The next generation was already on its way, and something told me that the Devil’s Dragons would be left in capable hands…

“You’re gonna do great, my son,” I whispered into his little ear. “Treat my friend’s girl right. Defend her. Protect her, like your old man does for your mother. Whether or not you both grow up to be friends or lovers, I can feel it in my bones: you two are going to accomplish great things…”

Connor stirred quietly, but slept.

That’s right, son. Hard part’s over.

Sleep now. You’ve earned it.

Holding Connor close to my chest, I backed up through the doors and crossed the waiting room towards the assembled Devil’s Dragons.

The nurse had been right – they were earning a lot of funny looks. They proudly wore their leathers and jeans while taking up a quarter of the chairs by themselves. Our merry little band had drawn a lot of funny looks from all the other expectant parents, who gave us a wide berth in the room.

Grizz was the first to notice me, and he patted the men on either side on the shoulders. Within seconds, the entire club was glancing over and ascending to greet us.

“Boss, is that–”

“Takes after his old man–”

“What a tiny little thing–”

I proudly held my child up before them all.

A wide smile beamed across my face as they began to hoot and holler, causing the nurses to look over in complete bewilderment.

“Boys, meet your newest member… Connor Hargreaves, heir to the Devil’s Dragons!”